


Step by Step

by NightingaleTrash



Category: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Genre: Blood and Injury, Canon Divergence, Drabble Collection, Gen, Kid Fic, Minor Character Death, dadam jensen, grown man gets bullied by baby, i'll add tags and characters as i go, self-indulgent AU, this is my self indulgence au and none of you can stop me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2019-11-24 17:31:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18168074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightingaleTrash/pseuds/NightingaleTrash
Summary: And we'll figure things out together.A collection of drabbles about Adam's unexpected venture into fatherhood. Turns out that stealing a baby from the Illuminati isn't as straight forward as hoped.





	1. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A raid of an Illuminati Facility takes an unexpected turn. Alex just wishes they could have planned ahead.

“I can’t believe you’ve done this,” Alex groaned as she settled herself into the pilot’s seat. “I  _ cannot believe _ you’ve done this.”

“You wouldn’t have done it?” was Adam’s reply and damn it if she couldn’t hear that accusatory note in his voice, like she was the one being unreasonable.

“Not without a plan,” she snapped, flipping the switches as quickly as possible, her hands so familiar with the layout that she could get this bird in the air blindfolded.

The engine rumbled into life and there came the familiar sense of that subtle vertigo as they lifted off from the facility’s landing pad. She didn’t want to think about how many alarms were going to go off once the staff realised what they had done, and she wanted to be long gone before they had a chance to start pursuing them.

Once they were high enough, she hit a breakneck pace, determined to put as much distance between them and the facility as possible. Within minutes the facility vanished behind them into the gloom, the last few lights dimming into pinpricks and then fading from view all together.

“I mean stealing tech or information, that’s one thing,” she continued. “But a  _ baby _ ? They’re gonna to realise it’s gone, and then what?”

Right on cue she could hear the baby gurgling and she rolled her eyes. It was like it understood exactly the kind of stress this whole mess was putting her under right now and found it funny. Maybe it was still a bit young to understand what funny was, but that didn’t change how this all sat with her.

“You saying we should have left her there?”

She groaned, shaking her head.

“No man, I didn’t mean- I’m just saying that just grabbing it and running without a plan was maybe not the best way to go about things,” she said. “We shoulda talked to Janus. Come up with a plan to figure out how to go about all this.”

“Because Janus could whip up a replica baby, right,” Adam snorted derisively.

“Or find someone who could hide it from the Illuminati. You know they’re going to try and get it back, so it needs to be with someone who can keep that from happening. Janus could’ve found someone for us to hand it off to.”

There was a long pause and all Alex heard over the headset was the baby’s gurgling. It was tempting to switch it off, if only for a little peace and quiet. Baby noises had a way of irritating her. They had a way of itching in her brain, and they didn’t jive with her mental processes. One of the many reasons she’d never have one of her own if she could help it.

But she didn’t switch off the headset, just focused on flying the VTOL and waiting to see if Adam would keep up the conversation.

“It’s done now, Alex,” he said finally and was it just her, or did he sound tired all of a sudden? “Besides, even if we left and came up with a plan, there’s no saying she’d still be there.”

“You think they’d have moved it someplace else?”

“That or whatever they were doing would have killed her.”

Something icy dropped into the pit of her stomach. Not at the idea that the Illuminati would kill a helpless baby, of course they would if they thought it would serve their ends. No, it was the absolute certainty with which Adam had said that. Like he was speaking from personal experience.

She decided not to ask. They all had their skeletons.

“Okay, fair point.” She shrugged. “So what  _ is _ the plan?”

“Figure out where to put her. You said Janus could find someone.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, so _ now _ you trust Janus?”

“No,” he said tersely. “But the only people I would trust with her aren’t exactly looking for a baby right now.”

She wondered who those people were, and how many of them might be within TF29. Miller seemed likely considering what had happened in London but, as Adam had said, he wasn’t likely to agree to taking on a baby.

“I’ll keep her with me in the meantime,” he went on. “Just get Janus looking for someone to take her on.”

“Okay man. Better you than me. By the way, you keep calling it ‘she.’ Did you check or something?”

She could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

“It was in the file they kept on her,” he said. “Better than calling her an ‘it.’”

“Whatever. That file have a name too or are we gonna have to give her one?”

“They called her Subject Eve.”

“Drop the ‘Subject’ and you’ve got a name. Not great for a baby though,” she mused, eyes flicking over to her scanner briefly.

Still no sight of a pursuit or any indication that anyone even knew they were there. They’d gotten out cleanly then, which was a small mercy considering how much trouble they were going to be in once the Illuminati realised that this particular asset of their’s was missing. She kept the stealth systems engaged regardless. And the guns too. Just in case.

“Evie any better?” Adam suggested.

She glanced around the back of her seat to steal a peek at the pair. 

Adam had dropped his shades and was cradling the baby close to his chest, almost protectively, and even from her seat Alex could see a smile tugging at his lips. He had also evidently surrendered his left hand to the baby as she was clutching his fingers in her little fat fists, apparently enthralled by the sleek black and gold augmentations. She then stuck one of his fingers in her mouth. Typical baby. He didn’t seem bothered though. In fact she swore she could see that smile spreading over his face.

“Much,” she chuckled, turning back to the sky. “Just be careful Adam, or else I might start thinking you’ll get attached.”

He snorted, but a quick glance back over her shoulder revealed that he hadn’t shifted from his previous position, with the baby - Evie - still doing her best to chew on his fingers, even without the necessary teeth. Alex rolled her eyes and focused on getting them back to Prague in one piece.

She supposed it wasn’t the worst turn that this mission could have taken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can all thank/blame Andauril for enabling me with this self-indulgent au, and for encouraging me to post content for it. I basically love and need that good Dadam Jensen content, so here I am. Trying to make it. Lemme know if you like it :D


	2. Disruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Babies don't keep the same schedule as everyone else, Adam learns.

The silence was shattered for a third time, and Adam groaned as he rolled onto his side and pushed himself up to sit on the edge of the bed. The disturbance had, once again, come from the creche in the form of a piercing wail.

He rubbed his bleary eyes and muttered, “HUD on.” The clock read 3.34am and he sighed. He rose to his feet, augs quickly working to keep him balanced as he crossed the short distance from the bed to the creche where Evie was bawling her eyes out.

It had been a week since he’d brought her home and he’d still not had any word from Alex or Janus about a prospective foster. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was part of some punishment for his impulsive decision, to let him endure the consequences of his actions for a little while. It would work better if he didn’t find himself liking Evie as much as he did, even if she'd completely disrupted life as he knew it.

He lifted her into his arms and bounced her lightly in an attempt to calm her. It seemed to work, at least a little, as her wailing settled into a quieter whinging. 

“Hungry?” he murmured.

Rather than wait for a reply that wouldn’t come, he padded out of the bedroom into the main living area. In the short time she’d been here, Evie had managed to transform his apartment. 

He’d had to make a few emergency purchases after returning to Prague. A parenting book sat open on the coffee table, along with a couple of empty baby bottles. A playmat was laid out on the floor next to the sofa along with a few toys she liked to throw across the room and then squeal at until Adam brought them back so she could throw them again - a favourite game of her’s. It was that or sticking them in her mouth. A pack of diapers sat on the dining table, along with a changing mat and a small stack of baby clothes that one of his neighbours had dropped off. 

Apparently the new baby hadn’t gone unnoticed in the building, and neither had the sudden bout of shopping. He counted himself lucky that they’d been feeling generous, and that most of what they’d given fit.

He grabbed one of the made up bottles of milk from the fridge before settling down on the sofa. He popped the lid off and offered it to Evie. It took her a second to realise it was there, being preoccupied with whinging and whining, but once she latched on she fell silent, suckling away intently.

Her distraction usually gave him a chance to go through his cluttered thoughts, but right now he was bone tired and it was a struggle to keep himself from dozing off on the sofa. 

And he must have failed because the next thing he knew he was jerked out of a doze to find Evie doing her damndest to take the bottle from his hand, undoubtedly to throw it so he could play fetch.

“Finished already?” he chuckled, despite the exhaustion. She gurgled happily in response and he smiled back. He set the bottle down on the coffee table with the others and held her to his shoulder to burp. He’d have to clean those up sooner rather than later. 

Once that was done it was back to bed and he lay her down in the creche. Almost immediately the smile disappeared from her face and she grunted, kicking her feet. Adam rubbed the back of his finger against her cheek, and as expected, she grabbed it and stuck it in her mouth.

“Are you sure you want that in your mouth?” he murmured amusedly.

He got a muffled gurgle in response and rolled his eyes.

“Whoever ends up with you is going to have their hands full,” he joked. “If they have a dog you’ll be best friends in no time.”

Her eyes lit up, though more likely from the smile pulling at the corners of his mouth rather than the mention of a dog. She probably didn’t even understand what the word ‘dog’ meant just yet. 

“I had a dog once,” he continued softly. “Kubrick. You’d have loved him. He liked playing fetch too.”

The recollection was bittersweet and came with a sharp sting of resentment towards Diane. Would it have really been so hard to hold onto Kubrick just a little while longer, at least until things went one way or another?

He pushed the thought from his mind. It was done. No point in reopening old wounds.

Evie gurgled again then yawned and her eyes drifted close. Adam stayed at the creche for a few minutes until it seemed certain that she was fast asleep before he withdrew his finger. His eyes were itching for sleep but he reminded himself that the baby bottles needed cleaning up, so reluctantly he returned to the living room to do so.

He filled and switched on the kettle, then gathered up the bottles from the coffee table and set them beside the sink. He paused for a moment then went to retrieve the parenting book too, setting it open on the other side of the sink where he’d be able to see the instructions on the page. It wouldn’t hurt to double check that he was doing everything properly. Most people would have had the time to do their research whereas he was learning as he went.

After a quick review of the page, he checked the kettle and his HUD informed him that it was the correct temperature and he switched it off.

Cleaning the bottles took a little longer than it should have, but he was so tired and kept catching himself from the brink of dozing off on his feet. He had to keep double checking that he was being as thorough as he thought he was being.

When he was certain he’d cleaned the bottles as thoroughly as needed his thoughts turned back to his bed and all the sleep he wanted to catch up on. Then the fourth bout of screaming began.

“What now?” he groaned, making his way back to the bedroom. He scooped Evie up. “Diaper need changing?”

But the second she was settled in his arms, the wailing died down immediately and she gurgled happily. Adam frowned and quickly checked her diaper with Smart Vision. It was clean so he set her back down in the creche. The moment he drew his hands away, she screwed up her face and began to wail. And stopped the second Adam picked her up again.

Perplexed, he stared down at her.

“What, don’t want to sleep in your own bed?” he asked.

She made a noise and cuddled further into his arms, as if daring him to even try and put her back. He shook his head.

“Fine. You win. But just this once, okay?”

She gurgled and stuffed her fist into her mouth.

He grabbed a couple of pillows and lined them along the side of the bed so she couldn’t fall off and laid her down on the mattress before pulling the sheets up over himself. 

Evie fidgeted for a few minutes, now trying to get her toes in her mouth as she watched Adam intently. He smiled back sleepily. 

It wouldn’t be until later, when he was awake and alert that he would consider what this meant and the potential consequences. But it was hard to care as he drifted back to sleep. 

It was a problem for another day.


	3. Fetch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evie plays a game, and Adam gets a call.

There was a soft _thump_ as a beanie baby flew past Adam to land in the corner and he looked around to the playmat where Evie was giggling and clapping her hands together, looking much too pleased with herself.

He rolled his eyes, smirking, and picked up the toy.

“I take it you want this back?” he asked, holding it up.

She squealed, kicking her feet and he strolled over, dropping the toy on the mat next to her. Immediately she picked it up and threw it again. It slid across the floor when it landed, coming to a stop by the kitchen counter, accompanied by shrill squeals of delight.

Adam picked it up again and dropped down to sit beside the mat, holding the toy over Evie.

“If I give the dragon back to you, are you gonna throw him again?”

She giggled, sticking her fist in her mouth.

“Oh really? You promise?”

Another gurgle, this time with outstretched hands.

“Okay.”

He held out the toy, and Evie all but snatched it from him and threw it past his shoulder. He rolled his eyes in feigned exasperation.

“I can’t believe you’ve done this,” he sighed. “You promised me you wouldn’t do that.”

She giggled wildly, sticking her fist back in her mouth. Her eyes were practically sparkling with mischief and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he reached over to stroke her hair.

“You’re a menace to beanie babies world over, you are,” he chuckled.

She squealed and babbled as he got up to retrieve the toy for the third time when his info-link buzzed. His brow furrowed as the ghostly image of Janus popped up in the corner of his HUD.

“Mr Jensen,” the staticy voice greeted.

“Janus. You found someone who’ll take her?”

He padded back to the playmat and gave the toy to Evie, but it seemed she had sensed the shift in Adam’s mood, as her smile faded and she dropped the dragon next to her.

“I have. The daughter of an associate has agreed to take the child on. Miss Kara Byrne,” he explained.

“And you’re sure she can be trusted?”

“I’ll forward you her file if that will satisfy your curiosity. But otherwise yes, I’m sure that the child will be perfectly safe with her,” he went on. “I’ve made arrangements with Alex. She’ll take you to meet Byrne at her home tomorrow evening.”

“And where _is_ her home? Or will I be finding out on the flight?”

“The town of Kinsale, in Ireland.”

“Fine. Send me the file.”

Janus gave no reply and hung up, and Adam turned back to Evie. Just in time to see her roll onto her front. She grunted, looking up at Adam intently as she pushed herself up on her hands. He then realised she wasn’t smiling.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked as he scooped her up. “Finally got sick of playing fetch?”

Instead of making her usual reply noises, she leaned into his shoulder and buried her face against his neck, making small whinging noises as she did so. Adam felt it catch in his chest. He rubbed a hand across her back as he lowered himself down onto the sofa.

“Hey, what’s this all about? I’m still here,” he said reassuringly.

He wondered if she understood what was going on or if it had simply been the change in his tone that had upset her. The latter seemed more likely, but either way he knew that the next day would be difficult for her. He would be saying goodbye and leaving her with her new family, never to see her again.

It was for the best, he reminded himself. She’d be hidden and safe from the Illuminati, able to grow up and have a normal life.

‘Michelle Walthers probably thought the same thing,’ a voice sneered in the back of his head.

He forced it down. That had been circumstance. And with any luck, Evie wouldn’t be half as unlucky as he had been and would steer clear of the Illuminati, blissfully unaware and as unaffected as it was possible to be.

Evie gurgled a little miserably and Adam eased her away to sit her on his lap and he smiled at her.

“Come on, you were pleased with yourself a second ago,” he reminded. “Or are you trying to distract me so I’ll forget about your first attempt at crawling?”

She gurgled, still looking a little worried.

“Yes, I saw that,” he went on. “Should I start worrying about what you’ll get your hands on?”

Another gurgle, and this time the corners of her mouth were starting to move upwards as she stuffed her fist back in her mouth.

“Really? I’ve got nothing to worry about? From _you_ , little miss trouble?”

This time she giggled.

“I knew it, you’re planning something. I’m not going to be fooled that easily.”

She giggled again, beaming now and she reached up, placing her hands on either side of his face and touched her mouth to his. He barely stopped himself from flinching - actually _flinching_ \- in surprise.

Almost immediately Evie began to withdraw as her smile fell and she looked worried again, and Adam quickly pulled himself back together.

“Hey, a little warning next time,” he joked. He hesitated a second before he kissed her cheek, and immediately she smiled again, like she was relieved.

He reached down to pick the dragon toy up off of the floor and held it out to her. Without hesitation, she threw it across the room.

Yes, he thought to himself as he set her back down on the playmat and fetched the toy. Tomorrow was definitely going to be very hard.


	4. Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam has to make a choice. Alex hopes it's the right one.

Evie sat in Adam’s lap for most of the journey, gurgling and babbling as she waved the dragon toy up and down, occasionally holding it right in Adam’s face as if to make sure he could see it properly. Otherwise there was little to no conversation over the course of the four and a half hour flight from Prague to Kinsale. 

Alex had gotten the call from Janus a few days ago that she needed to prepare for the flight to Ireland, as he had a suitable foster lined up and just needed to finish verifying a few details. At the time it was a relief. There was no way that the Illuminati was happy with the loss of one of their research assets, and she’d caught herself looking over her shoulder more often than usual, which was saying something. The sooner the kid was hidden away, the better off they were. But then Adam had actually arrived at the helipad with Evie in his arms and she knew it was going to be difficult.

She checked her radar. No signs of any other planes or VTOLs in their immediate vicinity.

“We’ll be there in about half an hour,” she announced. 

“Good,” Adam grunted. “The sooner we get this over with, the better.”

She pursed her lips, bit down on her response. For once.

The moment she saw how carefully he was cradling that baby, the way she clung to him whilst eying Alex warily, and how they’d interacted over the course of the flight was enough to tell her that if he was hoping she might believe he’d found the whole ordeal a major inconvenience to him, he was fooling no one. Not even himself. This wouldn’t be any easier on him than it would be on Evie.

Why was it that this was the one time that an off-hand comment of her’s had been right on the mark?

“So, baby’s got a new home,” she remarked. “How long do you think we’ve got before Byrne is calling and begging you to take her back?”

“That’ll only happen if she highly values the lives of beanie babies,” Adam replied dryly. “Evie’s got a thing for throwing them.”

“You got her to watch baseball with you, didn’t you?”

“You say that like she didn’t enjoy it.”

Alex snorted and rolled her eyes.

“Should I have brought ear protection? Is she a scream-y kind of baby? Because a friend of mine had a baby, and if she so much as put it down, it would start screaming right away. Is Evie like that with you?”

“I’m not planning on sticking around Alex. You can stay here, keep the engine warm while I drop her off, and then we’ll be out of here,” he said tersely.

“I’m gonna take that as a yes,” she said, checking the flight map. They were getting close now. “Look man, I’m just saying, her not taking this well is one thing. She’s gonna end up not remembering today. You on the other hand-”

“What about me?” he snapped.

There was a small whinge and with a quick glance over her shoulder, she could see Adam uncoiling from a very tense posture and Evie watching him worriedly. He set a hand over her shoulders and smiled reassuringly. No need to upset her before they even got there.

“C’mon man, I can see you back there,” Alex snorted. “I’ve never seen you get all gooey like that for anyone, but that kid has you wrapped around her finger. You sure you’re gonna be okay with giving her up?”

“What happened to not wanting the Illuminati breathing down our necks looking for her?”

“Don’t change the subject, or I’ll switch on the autopilot so I can come back there and smack you,” she warned. 

He didn’t answer right away and the air was filled with the humming of the engines, verberating against her headset and her ears, and it took a minute of two for Adam to reply.

“It’s not about what I want, Alex. It’s about doing what’s right for her,” he said somberly. “And if that means giving her to someone who knows what they’re doing and can give her a normal life, so be it.”

“Your call man. But I’m keeping the headset on when we get there. I like my hearing as it is.”

They pitched downwards into a descent as Kinsale came into view.

The town itself was formed around the harbour, and even in the dark, Alex could make out the outlines of countless boats and ships bobbing in the water. Street lamps and illuminated windows twinkled in the darkness. They soared over the town itself until they were right on the fringes where buildings made way for open fields.

Janus had provided a location for Alex to land at beforehand. It backed up on Byrne’s property, so they could be in and out quickly before anyone came to investigate the VTOL landing.

Unclipping her harness, Alex left the engine running. They were planning to be quick after all.

Adam was already on his feet, slinging the baby bag over his shoulder whilst cradling Evie against his chest. She dropped the dragon beanie baby and it hit the ground with a solid  _ thunk _ as she grabbed his coat, anchoring herself closer to him. She knew something was happening and Alex couldn’t help but feel bad for her. 

She didn’t know what was happening, only that it must be unpleasant for both Adam and Alex to be so tense, and she was counting on Adam to protect her throughout.

Without really thinking about it, Alex bent over to pick up the toy and patted Evie on the head.

“C’mon kid, let’s go get you to your new mom.”

They stepped out of the VTOL into the field where they were greeted by a cool night breeze that rustled the long grass. Alex checked her HUD. The house wasn’t far, just a walk across the field and they’d find themselves at the garden gate which Byrne had informed them would be left open.

They crossed the field with only Evie’s quiet, uncertain gurgling breaking the silence, which Adam hushed gently. She rested her head against his chest as he rubbed circles into her back which kept her quiet and seemingly content.

After several minutes they arrived at the edge of Byrne’s garden. The high fence was overgrown with ivy, and the gate wasn’t much better off. It made it harder to see in, which Alex imagined was the only reason someone would allow it to be in this state.

Alex lifted the handle and attempted to ease the gate open quietly. Instead it creaked and wailed, and she had to throw her weight into it just to get the ivy to budge, and it rustled and snapped as it gave way.

The garden itself was much tidier than the gate had suggested. There was a slide and a set of swings to one side and fenced flower beds on the other. The presence of dog toys explained that quickly enough. There was a paved path down the side of the lawn that led to the back door of the house, and Alex spotted movement through the window before it opened.

A black haired woman appeared in the doorway, hunched over as she was busy holding back a pair of very eager looking spaniels by their collars.

“Hi,” she greeted. “You must be Adam and Alex. Sorry, I told Jacob to make sure the dogs were shut away before you got here. Hold on.”

She turned her head.

“Jacob, come here please!” 

The dogs whined and barked, their tongues lolling out of their mouths as they reared up, desperate to run up and greet their visitors. Evie whimpered at the sight of them.

“It’s okay,” Adam murmured. “They just want to say hello.”

“They’re very good with kids, I promise,” Kara said. “They just get far too excited when visitors arrive.”

Just then a boy who looked like he might be about nine or so appeared behind his mother. He was holding a handheld console and had a set of headphones around his neck, and he looked vaguely annoyed at the interruption.

“Can you shut the dogs in the office, sweetheart?” she said. “They’re a bit too excited right now.”

Jacob frowned, then glanced from his mother to Adam and Alex, and then finally to the Evie who had all but buried herself into Adam’s coat. 

“Jacob?”

He jumped then nodded and did as he was told, taking the dogs by their collars and half-leading, half-dragging them back through the kitchen.

Kara straightened up, brushing her hair out of her face and smiling at the three of them.

“Sorry about that, I should have double checked that the dogs were sorted,” she sighed, shaking her head. She then held out a hand. “Kara.”

Adam carefully adjusted his hold on Evie and shook her hand.

“Adam. And this is Evie.”

Kara beamed at the sight of her.

“I’ve heard quite a few things about this little one,” she said. “Come in, please. Can I get you anything to drink? Tea? Coffee?”

“No thanks, we’re planning on keeping this brief.” 

They stepped into the kitchen and the door shut behind them. Immediately Alex began scanning the room, as if trying to find any sign of a potential threat. It was becoming a habit of her’s now. Not the healthiest, but it had kept her alive. 

The kitchen was homey at least. Clean and well-kept with granite countertops complete with a bag of dog food propped up in the corner, a utensil holder, and children’s toys. Jacob’s presumably. It was also likely that the drawings on the fridge were his too. All in all, it was a typical enough set up for a family home.

She then clocked the sound of scrabbling claws somewhere above her and she had to resist the urge to reach for her gun. It was just the dogs, she reminded herself. Janus trusted that this was a safe place, so it had to be.

Kara and Adam ended up standing opposite one another, Evie between them and looking very  _ very _ apprehensive about what was going on. Alex made a point to keep to one side, dropping the dragon beanie babie on the counter and then pretending not to watch. This wasn’t really her business after all.

Just then Jacob sidled back into the room.

“They’re away,” he announced before looking up at the baby in Adam’s arms. “Is that her then?” He seemed decidedly unimpressed.

“This is Evie,” said Adam, nodding.

“Does she  _ do _ anything?”

“She likes throwing things and having someone else bring the things back.”

Jacob turned to his mother and said, “Molly will love her then. She loves it when people throw her ball.”

Kara chuckled.

“Yes she does.” 

She then hesitated, as if wondering if she was supposed to move first or if Adam would, then after a long few seconds she held out her hands. And then, very reluctantly, Adam passed Evie to her.

Evie grunted uncomfortably, looking from Kara to Adam as he set the baby bag on the side next to the toy.

“Let’s go,” he said to Alex, moving towards the door.

The effect was immediate as an ear-splitting shriek burst out of Evie’s lungs as she kicked at Kara, trying to wriggle free. 

Adam froze and made to turn back, his hands moving upwards. Kara, however, seemed completely unsurprised even as Evie flailed in her grasp and maintained her composure.

“It’s fine,” she assured. “Like ripping off a plaster.”

Alex could see the way Adam hesitated, halfway through the action of reaching over to take Evie back. She almost wanted him to, and not just to make the screaming stop already, but because she could almost  _ see _ that it wasn’t just some instinct telling him to do it. He wanted to do it. He wanted to be the one holding her and calming her. She could see it in the way that his arms - always so steady - trembled slightly before lowering to his sides as he turned away. And from the brief glimpse of his face before the shades snapped back into place making the down turn of his lips unreadable as anything beyond mildly annoyed.

Part of him didn’t want to leave her behind. 

So she found herself prickling with a barely contained anger as he opened the back door and stepped out into the cold night air. But she followed regardless.

Evie’s screaming followed them out of the house, and it kept ringing in Alex’s ears even as they crossed the field back to the VTOL. She didn’t clamber into her seat right away. Instead she stood and watched Adam, one foot in the door and staring back in the direction of the house and god damn her if he wasn’t  _ pining _ to go back.

It was honestly kind of pathetic to see him so torn over something he clearly wanted. He wanted the kid and was doing a terrible job of hiding it, so why give her up?

Oh yeah, because he was the kind of guy who would rather wallow in his own misery out of some fucked up sense of nobility than let himself be happy for once. And frankly, it pissed her off.

“You gotta decide man.”

He flinched, turning back to her and she gave him a levelling gaze.

“If you wanna keep her, then you need to turn your ass around and go back. Because I don’t wanna have to deal with you moping around for the next few months because you wouldn’t let yourself have something nice for once,” she said sternly.

“It’s not about m-”

“Yeah it is. Adam, you’ve not had that kid a month and you already love her. You wouldn’t be acting like this if you didn’t. And she wouldn’t be screaming like that if she didn’t love you too,” she snapped. “Now, decide. Are you gonna be so hell bent on your own misery that you both suffer for it or are you gonna let yourself have this one damn thing?”

He stared at her, completely floored, then turned away. She could see him chewing on his lip and his fingers curling against the VTOL.

Then, after several long minutes of deliberation, he muttered, “I’ll be right back.”

And without missing a beat, he was sprinting off across the field. Alex could only smile and shake her head as she dropped herself into her seat.

“About damn time. Idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooo, longest drabble yet and Adam finally accepts he is now Dadam 'o'  
> thank you all for your comments, I love reading them and knowing that there are other people enjoying me indulging myself, it really keeps me wanting to keep posting these!! You guys are all wonderful, and I love you :D


	5. Laughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam gets a call from some old friends who immediately decide to take the piss out of him.

Adam sighed heavily, leaning back against the sofa with Evie resting against his chest, waiting for Malik and Pritchard to regain themselves from their fit of laughter. He would be waiting a while it seemed, as Malik was wheezing and struggling to breathe, and Pritchard had _actual tears_ in his eyes.

Evie watched the screen with a wariness and curiosity in equal measure, her fist in her mouth as she watched the pair laughing themselves silly.

“I-I-” Malik spluttered before just breaking into a howling cackle.

“I could always call some other time when you’re both ready to be grown ups,” Adam grunted, lifting the remote with his thumb on the power button.

“You don’t hang up on me this time, Jensen!” Pritchard snapped, but his face was still contorted into a maniacal grin and his shoulders were shaking with laughter.

“No, no! We’re grown ups! We’re grown ups, I swear!” Malik added, shaking herself. “I just- _Wow_ , Spy Boy. Kinda thought you’d wait to settle down before bringing kids into the equation.”

She was still grinning so widely that her lip piercing looked like it could suddenly drop from her face at any second, and Pritchard sniggered.

“At least we got the Santeau job out of the way beforehand. I’d hate to imagine how things would have gone if you couldn’t find a sitter.”

“Oh god, can you _imagine_ trying to take a baby on a bank heist!” Malik hooted, rocking back in her chair, clutching her sides.

“I can see it now,” Pritchard continued. “The suave and dangerous Adam Jensen, complete with combat armour, trench coat, and baby strapped to his front.”

“I dunno Frank. His back might be better. Less bullets,” Malik pointed out breathlessly, and they both burst back into peels of laughter.

Adam rolled his eyes. He really shouldn’t have expected any different from the two of them when they learned about the new addition to his household. They were perhaps the only people in the world who were comfortable enough to poke fun at him and not be arseholes about it (unlike a certain person he wasn’t going to name), so of course they were going to make fun of him over the baby. But he was behind on sleep and the teasing was wearing on his patience now.

It took them a few minutes to calm themselves down again, and even then they were both wearing shit-eating grins, still revelling in their own amusement.

“So… who’s the lucky lady?” Malik teased.

“‘Lucky’ might be a bit of a stretch, Faridah,” Pritchard gloated, still smirking.

“There isn’t one,” Adam growled, running a hand through his hair. Evie gurgled and patted his face as gently as she could manage with what motor control she had. He gave a small, weary smile and she sat up to touch her lips to his.

“Aw, see that Frank? She loves her daddy,” Malik cooed. “Seriously, where did you get her and why am I not her godmother yet?!”

“Because no one in their right mind would trust you with a baby, Faridah,” Pritchard pointed out. “Or do I need to remind you that the criminal lifestyle that comes with being a smuggler doesn’t mix well with babies?”

“Okay, that’s fair,” she sighed.

“If you two are done?”

They exchanged a quick glance with one another, then turned their attention to Adam as he gave them a quick rundown of events. It had a sobering effect on both of them, the wicked smiles watering down, replaced with Pritchard’s brow furrowing and his eyes narrowing as they did when he was calculating, his mind going a mile a minute whilst Malik just scowled.

“So they were experimenting on a _baby_? What the fuck is wrong with these people?” she scoffed. “Good thing you got her out of there.”

“Wherever there is,” Pritchard interjected. “At least tell me you found files before you presumably levelled the place?”

“I was a bit preoccupied to go planting any bombs, Francis. But yes, I found some files. Not that there’s much in them.”

“Forward them. At least one of us should at least try to actually understand what they were doing.”

Adam rolled his eyes.

“Fine. I’ll do that _after_ I put Evie down for her nap.”

She squealed delightedly at the mention of her name and clapped her hands together. Malik placed her hand over her heart, feigning faintness.

“She’s so cute, I can’t even,” she gasped. “Seriously Jensen, make sure you double check all your locks or I might just steal her from you.”

Adam’s lip curled into a smirk.

“Try it, Fly Girl. She comes with a built in alarm when she’s not around her daddy.”

“Oh yeah?”

Still smirking, he laid Evie down on the playmat and took a step back. Almost instantly Evie screwed up her face and gave a loud wail, kicking her feet in protest. Happy to have proved his point, Adam scooped her back up just as Malik cocked a brow.

“Okay, I get it. No stealing the baby. But I am _definitely_ going to visit on my next trip to Prague and you can’t stop me,” she declared adamantly.

“Sure. But knock first, I don’t want to have to change the locks again.”

“But knocking might wake the baby.”

“So might a strange woman breaking and entering. At least she won’t cry over the knocking.”

Malik heaved a sigh as if he was asking for the moon on a stick, though the twinkle in her eye told him that she was (mostly) joking. Malik might be a career criminal these days (albeit with an altruistic spin) but she certainly wasn't about to go out of her way to make a baby cry. Especially not if it was going to cut into what precious little sleep Adam was getting nowadays.

“So, does TF29 know you stole a baby, Jensen? Or are you hoping that she’ll figure out how to feed herself whilst you run off to gun down terrorists?” Pritchard prodded.

“I got a leave of absence for another few weeks. I’ll have figured out an arrangement by then,” Adam replied curtly.

“In other words, you’ve _not_ informed your superiors that you now have responsibility for an infant. Goodie for you.”

“If the Illuminati has a mole in the taskforce, do you really think it’d be a good idea for me to announce I suddenly have a baby after one of their’s disappeared?”

It was Pritchard’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Yes, because this ‘Illuminati’ wouldn’t have figured out where she went by now after your sudden leave of absence and all the baby supplies you’ve purchased.” He craned his neck to peer into the apartment past Adam. “Yes, how very subtle of you.”

“If you have a better plan Francis, I’m all ears.”

Pritchard opened his mouth to retaliate but was cut off by Malik snorting and biting down on a laugh as a wry grin unfurled over her face and Adam braced himself for what was certainly going to be the final nail in the coffin that was this conversation.

“Hey Frank.”

“What?”

“Adam’s a dad now, right?”

“Yes, and?”

“You know what we should call him?”

“What?”

“ _Dadam Jensen_!”

Adam hung up just as they both burst into laughter once more, cutting them off before he even had to think about that joke. Evie squeaked, looking up at him and then giggled as he rubbed the tip of his finger against her cheek. He grinned and chuckled.

“Promise me that you will _never_ be as bad as those two.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you tell I really wanted to make that joke at some point in one of these drabbles? XD


	6. Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miller's more than used to his colleague's quirky antics, but even that's not enough to prepare him for this.

Miller had long since become accustomed to the quirky antics of his colleagues in TF29. 

Though irritated by it at first, he now anticipated Chang’s daily changing of the door codes and passwords, and he was more than happy to pretend that he hadn’t stumbled across that copy of Fletcher’s manuscript which definitely did not have a carbon copy of Dr Auzenne serving as the sensual romantic interest, just with a different name. He was used to MacReady’s constant griping about some agents not filing reports on time, and Dr Auzenne - the real one, not Fletcher’s version - always pestering him to encourage the agents to stop by her office, and when the strange noises in the vents turned out to be Jensen crawling around in them for god-knows-what.

In other words, he was used to life in the office being perfectly strange. What he didn’t anticipate was things getting even stranger.

When Miller arrived at Adam’s front door - after squeezing his way around the pile of trash outside - he could already  _ hear _ the muffled wailing of a very unhappy baby. It hadn’t been a joke at least. Not that Miller thought it was, but even so he was still struggling to grasp the nature of the task before him.

Adam Jensen, perhaps the most reserved agent TF29 had, had called with one week of his leave of absence left to ask Miller for help. With a baby. 

He knew Adam had needed a break from work, with everything that had happened with ARC and Marchenko, but where he had suddenly gotten a baby, Miller didn’t even _ want _ to guess. It would just bring on that ever encroaching headache that was always prickling at his temples and life would become more complicated. As if he needed that.

What he didn’t fully understand was why Adam had called him. Maybe on account of his having kids and therefore might know something? It wasn’t a bad assumption to make. But surely there was someone else he could have called first.

Taking a deep breath and setting his shoulders, as if steeling himself for battle, Miller rapped on the door.

“Coming!” was the muffled reply. Followed by an increase in the intensity of the shrieking and a groan. “Okay, okay, hang on…”

About thirty seconds later, the door opened and Adam appeared. 

Immediately Miller realised how he must have looked to Neil when they first brought their kids home as babies. Constantly weary from a lack of sleep and no longer caring about what he wore when he knew he was liable to be covered in vomit. 

Adam was certainly at that point, wearing a stained white shirt, and dark sweatpants. His hair was messy, but not in his usual deliberate style, and there were dark circles around his eyes from a lack of sleep. And true enough, held with surprisingly gentleness against his shoulder was a baby. 

Her shrieking had calmed to a quieter whine for now, but Miller was experienced enough to know that it wouldn’t last long. Especially from the shuddering of her shoulders. She was catching her breath before getting right back to wailing.

“So.” He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “This is Trouble?”

“This is Evie, yeah,” Adam replied. 

There was an awkward pause before he finally shuffled to one side, letting Miller into the apartment, and he stepped inside.

Maybe there was something to a person’s work desk reflecting how they lived because the apartment was almost as cluttered as Adam’s corner in Counter-Terrorism. To be fair though, it was the exact sort of chaos one could expect when living with a baby. The coffee table was littered with baby bottles and a parenting book, as well as a packet of wet wipes and a photograph of a border collie. A couple of blankets were draped over the back of the sofa, and Miller was pretty sure he could spot a couple of baby-vomit stains on one of them. On the floor next to the sofa was a playmat complete with discarded toys that looked like they’d been in someone’s mouth. All in all, it was the perfect representation of the chaos caused by the arrival of a baby.

“So you said nothing’s calmed her down?” he asked, turning back to Adam. 

It was then he caught sight of three nearly identical black trench coats hanging up by the front door. Another quirk he’d learned to be unfazed by.

“Nothing,” Adam sighed. “I’ve fed her, burped her, changed her… It’s like she doesn’t want to stop.”

Miller frowned.

“Babies only cry because they’re trying to tell you something’s wrong,” Miller explained, then beckoned to Adam. “Give her here and let’s take a look.”

“She’s clingy,” Adam warned as he adjusted Evie from his shoulder to pass her to Miller.

He seemed reluctant but handed her over regardless. As predicted her whining turned into an ear-splitting shriek as she began to thrash in Miller’s arms. Adam moved to take her back but Miller shook his head.

“She has to get used to it,” he said calmly as he bounced her. “I know it’s not pleasant to see but she has to realise that sometimes she’ll be with people who aren’t her father.”

Evie clearly had other ideas as she kicked and pushed away from Miller’s chest, desperately trying to get back to Adam. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before. Suzie and Ethan had been just as bad when they’d brought each of them home, so Miller was more than prepared to have to be patient for Evie to settle down even as a little foot managed to skim his chin. 

“This is an awful lot of fuss for someone so little,” he remarked, still bouncing Evie. “How old is she now?”

Adam looked a little sheepish.

“She’s about seven months now,” he said and Miller raised a brow.

That was longer than Adam had been in Prague and he’d never once mentioned or alluded to having a partner, let alone a child. Perhaps he had an ex back in the States. Maybe something had happened to them, meaning Adam was suddenly shouldering the responsibility for Evie’s care. It would explain the sudden request of leave. Before Miller thought that Adam just needed a break from the stress caused by London and the impending Human Restoration Act. This actually made more sense somehow.

Miller pushed the thought from his mind for now. He wasn’t one to go digging into his colleagues’ privates lives and he wasn’t about to start now. Even if one was now asking for help with a screaming baby.

Nearly an hour dragged by - during which Miller and Adam sat themselves down on the couch - before Evie finally began to calm. Or more likely, had tired herself out with all the screaming. She continued to whinge though, her puffy red eyes fixed on Adam as he reached over to pet her hair.

“Now, are you ready to tell us what the problem is Trouble?”

“She’s not been sleeping well these last couple of days. And she’s definitely been fussier too,” Adam supplied.

“Hm.”

Her nappy was dry and she certainly didn’t lack for toys or Adam’s attention, that much was obvious. He checked her temperature, and whilst she was a little warm it wasn’t an outright fever. Then she sneezed and a fine dribble of snot dripped from her nose.

That settled that then.

“Looks like she has a cold.”

Adam blinked.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. It should clear up by itself in a week or two, though she might need some extra fluids. And you may want to get a suction bulb if her nose gets blocked up.” At Adam’s quizzical expression, he added, “you’ll find them in a baby store. Helps keep the nostrils clear so baby can breathe properly.”

He passed Evie back and Adam grabbed a wet wipe from the pack and wiped her nose. She grabbed the wipe and tried to pull it away from him.

“Uh, no. You’re not throwing wet wipes around the living room,” he said, tugging it out of her grasp.

A smirk curled at the corner of Miller’s mouth.

“She likes to play fetch?”

“All the time,” Adam groaned.

Miller chuckled and got to his feet, and Adam did the same. He still looked a fair bit embarrassed, which was understandable. Miller had felt much the same way when he was at a loss over Suzie’s first cold. The first child always left a parent fumbling and worrying over little things.

“Can I still expect you back next week, or do you need more time getting Trouble settled in?” he asked.

Adam hesitated then sighed.

“Honestly, she wasn’t meant to be staying with me permanently,” he confessed. “I’ve… not got much in the way of arrangements for her yet.”

Miller blinked, then frowned.

“Then I’ll sort some things out, get you on paternity leave to give you time to get things sorted.” 

Adam opened his mouth, as if to protest, but Miller cut him off.

“You’ll need to register her with a doctor, and no, not your mechanic, an  _ actual _ doctor. And maybe start looking into local daycares so you know where to leave her when you come back to work. And it’ll only be a matter of time before the team finds out, so expect them to start demanding you bring her into the office; 

I recommend you consider it, if only to get her better socialised, or else you’ll have her hanging off your arm for the rest of your life. If anything comes up that you need advice on, shoot me a text. I’ve been through it all twice over.”

Adam didn’t respond at first, then nodded a little stiffly.

“Thanks Miller,” he muttered.

“No problem. Just look after yourself and Trouble, and I’ll see you either when you get back or when the others have kicked your door down and bodily dragged the two of you into the office.”

Miller let himself out. The moment the door shut behind him, he felt the tension drain from his shoulders as his muscles uncoiled even as a new headache prickled at his temples. Now he was going to have to explain to Manderly that one of their best agents would be on paternity leave for the foreseeable future.

Wonderful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> asdfghjkl; I really don't have the words to convey how much it means to me that you guys are enjoying this self-indulgent au of mine. Thank you all for your comments, kudos and bookmarks, they mean the world to me <3
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this new drabble (and Miller going into Dad Mode XD). I actually started work on this long before I even considered posting these drabbles. It just needed some modifying and boom, new update :D


	7. Mobile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam is finally getting settled when Evie decides to cause a little more trouble.

‘ _So that’s Evie Jensen and she just needs a general check-up_ ?’ There was a pause followed by the muffled clacking of keyboard keys as Adam stood at the counter with a dish of mashed up banana in front of him. ‘ _We’ve got an appointment available with Doctor Sokol on the upcoming Thursday at 10 o’clock. Will that do_?’

“That would be perfect,” Adam replied.

‘ _Alright, I’ll book you in_ . _Is there anything else I can do for you_?’

“No thanks.”

‘ _Very well. Have a good day_.’

The receptionist hung up and Adam picked up the dish of mashed banana. That was one less thing to worry about.

Surprisingly enough, Miller knowing about Evie hadn’t significantly added to the list of worries that had grown considerably since he’d taken Evie on permanently. Yes there was the issue of Manderly approving his paternity leave which meant the Illuminati had _definitely_ figured out where Evie was now, but they were going to find out sooner or later. At least now he knew that they knew, which was a vast improvement over constantly fretting about when they would find out.

Otherwise, Miller was actually helpful. It shouldn’t have been so surprising when he had two kids himself, current problems notwithstanding.

With an extended leave, Adam wasn’t having to worry about going back to work whilst tripping over himself trying to get everything in place for Evie, and every now and then he got a recommendation for well-reputed daycares and doctor’s offices who were both reliable and unlikely to give him trouble for being an aug. It cut down the amount of time he’d have to spend doing it himself, which meant more time trying to keep up with Evie.

Which, he was about to discover, was about to take on a much more literal meaning.

As he stepped around the kitchen counter to return to the couch, the first thing he noticed was that the playmat was suddenly vacant.

His chest seized and his whole body tensed up, augs already preparing for use. Dropping the plate on the countertop, he strode over to the couch, eyes scanning over the apartment as he went for any immediate signs of intrusion. Surely no one could have slipped in and taken her whilst he was standing in the same room, even with his back turned. She would have started shrieking the second they tried.

He stopped dead at the sound of giggling and looked around just in time to see little feet disappearing around the corner of the couch. And just like that the tension drained out of him as he rolled his eyes.

“Evie,” he said warningly, padding over, purposefully slow.

He could hear her giggling and shuffling along the floor and spotted her disappearing around the corner of the couch again.

“I thought we agreed that you weren’t allowed to start crawling,” he said with a feigned sternness.

She giggled again and he moved towards the other end of the couch only to hear more of the tell-tale shuffling of a baby on the move. He doubled back just as she rounded the corner and ducked down to scoop her up.

Evie squealed in delight and turned to try and escape, but not quickly enough as Adam hoisted her up into his arms. She grinned at him and patted his cheek, as if trying to distract him from the fact she’d nearly given him a heart attack. He raised an eyebrow.

“So not only do you scare daddy by hiding, but then you try to run away, and are now trying to get back into my good books by being adorable?”

She babbled and kissed his cheek. He could only roll his eyes.

“Fine, I’ll let it slide” he said, lip curling into a grin. “But just this once. No more hide and seek, okay? Now come on, it’s time to eat.”

That got an excited noise out of her and she clapped her hands together as he retrieved the plate from the counter and sat her in the high chair.

The venture into solid foods had been another of Miller’s recommendations. Evie would still be dependent on formula for a while, but she seemed to be enjoying the new lessons at the dinner table. Or at least she liked making a mess. That seemed likely. She eyed the plate of mashed banana eagerly, clapping her hands together as Adam set it in front of her, all while keeping the wipes close at hand. A lesson he had learned quickly after her first go at solid food which had ended up in a bath.

“Just remember it’s for eating, not playing with,” he warned as he pulled up a chair.

That didn’t stop her from sticking her hands right into the mess and start squeezing it between her fingers. Adam shook his head and smiled, then dipped his finger into the banana and held it up to her.

“C’mon, you’re supposed to be eating.”

Evie beamed and took his finger, sticking it in her mouth. When he withdrew, she scooped some of the banana into her own hand and held it out to him as she babbled. He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, you’re feeding me now?”

He moved to take the banana from her hand, but she snatched it away and shook her head before holding it out again.

“Really? I don’t know where your hands have been.”

She babbled some more, arm still outstretched as she waved the handful of banana at him a little frustratedly. He held his hands up in surrender.

“Okay, you win,” he chuckled, doing as she wanted and she squealed in sheer delight, clapping her hands together. “Now come on, you need to eat the rest of it.”

But Evie scooped up more and offered it to him.

“No, it’s your lunch.” She grunted adamantly. “No, Evie. You have to eat it.”

She threw out her bottom lip, looking decidedly unhappy but Adam sat back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest. She withdrew her arm and looked at the plate thoughtfully.

“And no, you can’t throw the food on the floor again just to try and get your way,” he added.

She glanced up at him, then at the food already covering her hand and then, whilst watching Adam tentatively, stuck it in her mouth. Like she was waiting for confirmation that that was what he wanted her to do.

“There, now was that so hard?” he said, dropping his arms and leaning forwards.

Evie giggled through her fingers and repeated the action, still watching him as she did so and then smiling as he nodded his head.

“That’s my girl,” he praised, tussling her hair. She giggled and some banana spilled out of her mouth. He grabbed a wipe and caught it before it fell down her front. “You’re supposed to swallow it, remember.”

She just giggled some more, eyes sparkling with mischief. He managed to catch the plate before it hit the floor, though not before some banana managed to slide off and land on the floor with a wet squelch.

He looked at her pointedly.

“Now that was just naughty.”

She giggled and clapped her hands together, looking far too pleased with herself.


	8. Bathtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam decides that Evie needs a bath. She disagrees, of course.

Adam felt a pressure against his leg and looked down to see Evie with her arms around his ankle, peering up at him with a cheeky grin. He smirked and rolled his eyes, turning back to the sink.

Ever since she’d started crawling, Evie regularly swung between trying to hide from him then running away when he found her and following him everywhere he went. Privacy no longer existed in this apartment it seemed, not even in the bathroom. It was just one more thing he was learning to adjust to, and being wanted was hardly the worst thing in the world. He just wished she wanted him a little less in the middle of the night.

However her desire to be close to him right now was about to be put to the test.

Adam tested the temperature of the water and his HUD informed him that it was correct, so he closed the faucet and swirled the water around the basin.

The apartment didn’t have a bath, and showers weren’t ideal for babies, so the sink was the next best thing. At least for Adam. Evie, however, didn’t much care for bathtime. Obviously she hadn’t yet figured out what he was up to, otherwise she’d be hiding already rather than hanging off his leg.

She tugged on his trouser leg and grunted.

“No, you are not learning how to stand right after crawling,” he said sternly. “You’re bad enough as it is on all fours.”

She grunted again.

“Evie, daddy’s busy. Can it wait?”

The answer was - obviously - no, and Evie started whining. Adam sighed and reached for a dish cloth to dry his hands before kneeling down.

“Yes? What does her majesty require?” he teased, ruffling her hair.

Evie grabbed at his knees and tried to pull herself up onto her feet. Except she really wasn’t ready for that and her legs flopped out under her so she fell back into a sitting position where she looked quite disgruntled.

“Hey, I’m still not happy that you broke your promise to not start crawling. You can at least let me have a break before you figure out how to walk.”

She grunted and held her arms out, asking to be picked up. Adam grinned.

“Oh, you have no idea what you’re volunteering for.”

He picked her up and sat her on the counter where she caught sight of the full, bubble-filled sink with a towel sitting next to it and not a dirty dish in sight. Adam could see the gears turning in her brain as she put two-and-two together. She squealed and tried to worm her way out of his grasp, but he paid little mind as he unbuttoned her onesie and set it to one side.

“No use running, Stinky. You’re getting a bath whether you like it or not.”

She babbled in protest and scowled at him, the perfect picture of complete and utter betrayal as he tossed her diaper into the bin and lowered her into the water.

“You always act like you hate it, but then you get in and you love it. Just admit it, you like being dramatic.”

She babbled some more and turned her nose up at him. He raised a brow, smirking, and prodded her cheek.

“What’s that? You don’t like daddy anymore?” She grunted, still refusing to look at him. “Just admit it, you like having a bath.”

When she still refused to turn around, Adam lowered a hand into the water and flicked some up at her. She babbled and smacked at his hand, still looking far more serious than a seven month old had any right to. So he flicked the water again but drew his hand back before she could smack him and she splashed the water instead.

Instantly her whole demeanour changed as she watched Adam get a face full of bath water and her face lit up like a Christmas tree. He grabbed the dish cloth to wipe his face, and the whole time Evie giggled and clapped her hands together.

“Every single time, it’s like you’re only just learning that you can do that,” he grunted, rolling his eyes as he reached for the measuring jug. “Now come on, time to get clean.”

He scooped up some water and, making sure to keep it clear of her eyes, poured it out over Evie’s head. Her fine, black hair was immediately plastered to her head and she giggled, splashing the water some more as Adam repeated the process, making sure that she thoroughly soaked his shirt as she did so. She didn’t have any real protests over the shampoo either. Instead she seemed to have rediscovered her toes, a fact she wanted to make sure Adam knew about as she squealed and held them up, demanding that he notice them.

“Yes, I know you’ve got toes,” he said as he rinsed her hair out again. “You’ve always had them, for as long as I’ve known you.”

She babbled dropping her foot, then held up the other one to show too.

“Yep, and there’s toes on that one too.”

She let go and clapped her hands together excitedly, and Adam couldn’t help smiling to himself as he washed the soap suds out of her hair.

Once they were done, he drained the sink and wrapped Evie in the towel. She giggled and reached out from the folds to affectionately pat his face as he carried her over to the sofa.

“That’s better. Much less stinky now,” he chuckled, sitting down to dry her off. “See? Bathtime is fun, you just like to be dramatic for the sake of it.”

She babbled and grabbed at the towel, trying to pat it against his wet t-shirt as he began to dry her off. Then the towel slipped over her feet and she squealed at the sight of her own toes again.

He’d be lying if he said that she didn’t make the world a little more bearable. She didn’t know or care about what was going on outside. She didn’t realise how many people were out to use and hurt her. She was just excited to learn that she had toes. In a way, it almost encapsulated the reason as to why he did what he did; to make sure she had a future that was her’s and not someone else’s.

And for that, he’d fight tooth and nail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for being patient with me, the drabble that I had planned to upload this week is not where I want it to be and is in no state to be seen so I whipped this up instead so I'd still have an update for you guys - Kameiko, I know you in particular wanted to see this little scenario, so I hope you like it ^^ if you guys have any other ideas you'd like to see, let me know in the comments and I'll add them to the list, and I'll see what I can do ;)
> 
> Thank you all for your continued support, it's been so nice to get back into the habit of writing on the regular again and to see so many people enjoying these drabbles and letting me know that they're enjoying them has been a huge motivator to keep going. 
> 
> In terms of writing, the last couple of years have been something of a struggle for me. I struggled with writing regularly and to a standard that I was pleased with, and combined with not a lot of feedback, I found myself not enjoying writing the way I used to. So I am in no way overstating it when I say that you guys are magical because your comments have gotten me _enjoying_ writing again, which is a huge deal for me as my depression leaves me struggling to enjoy much of anything anymore. Thank you all so much, you guys are the best <3


	9. Disposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex gets a call in the middle of the night for less than pleasant reasons.

The buzzing of her info-link was what woke her up. Alex groaned, still half asleep as she opened the link and rolled onto her back. She didn’t even need to open her eyes to see Adam’s avatar pop up in the top left corner of her HUD, right next to the internal clock that told her it was 2:30am.

“If you don’t have a damn good reason for waking me up, I’ll beat you to death,” she grumbled, pushing her hair out of her face.

“How good are you at getting rid of bodies?”

She paused and then sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Adam, what the hell-”

“I’m serious Alex.”

She latched onto consciousness and forcibly brought herself up to speed. He sounded on edge, even more than he had during the bombing at Růžička which was saying something, and there was a barely detectable tremble in his voice which she only noticed because she was so used to his even, gravelly tone. And then she processed what he was actually saying. 

He needed help with a  _ body _ .

Suddenly she was wide awake and she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, reaching for her clothes as the worst case scenario came to mind.

“The kid’s okay?” she asked as she dressed, pulling her hair back into a messy ponytail.

“She’s fine. Shaken, but fine.”

“Good. I’m on my way.”

“You might want earplugs,” he added half-heartedly.

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

She kept the link open as she pulled on her boots and stowed her gun in her handbag, and she could faintly hear the kind of sniffles that followed a long bout of wailing. Funnily enough, the sound was actually reassuring. It meant that Evie was still where she was safe and looked after, and not in the hands of some Illuminati agent.

She engaged the apartment security system before leaving, then checked her corners, and made her way out into the street.

With the curfew still in effect, her Cloaking aug was invaluable for slipping past the cops prowling around their blockades, guns held at the ready and drones buzzing overhead like overlarge mechanical flies. They were certainly just as irritating.

Down a side alley and through the winding side streets. Alex kept  a tight grip on her sidearm as a precaution. Not that it was likely that the usual shady characters would risk lurking in the shadows when State Police was out in full force, but it made her feel marginally safer even if she was invisible.

Over the info-link she could hear Adam talking to Evie, and not once in all the time she’d know him had she heard him speak that softly.

“It’s okay,” he murmured. “Daddy’s here. No one’s going to hurt you.”

Her heart wrenched just hearing it, and Evie’s wet, sniffled gurgle didn’t help. 

Whatever had happened must have been bad if it had ended in bloodshed. Adam didn’t like killing. He wasn’t above it if it meant keeping innocents safe, but he avoided it wherever possible. Going from the sound of his voice, it sounded like it was a split second decision. He certainly hadn’t bothered taking the time to recover his composure, something she never would have thought she’d see in her lifetime. But then she’d never have imagined Adam stealing a baby and then, after a month of planning to give it away, decided to keep it.

Alex didn’t drop her cloak and hang up on the info-link until she was outside Adam’s door and she knocked briskly before letting herself in.

Adam was sitting on the couch with Evie cradled in his arms. The second the door opened he leapt to his feet and a blade shot from his wrist, held at the ready like a sword. Then he realised who it was and his tense posture uncurled as the blade retracted into his wrist, the outer casing of his arm clicking back into place to form its uniform shape.

“Sorry,” he murmured, sitting back down. 

“Don’t be man. Sounds like you guys had a rough night,” said Alex as she padded around the back of the sofa and reached over to pat Evie’s head.

“Something like that. Sorry to drag you out of bed, but-”

She held up a hand, cutting him off.

“I know, I know. Can’t leave a baby unattended when dumping a body, can’t take a baby with you to dump said body. Though if you expect me to play sitter while you do the fun bit, I’ll hit you.”

That got a snort out of him and maybe the faintest ghost of a smile. Evie sniffled, reaching for Alex’s hand which she withdrew.

“Nuh uh, I see what you do with your dad’s hands, I’m having  _ none _ of that.”

Evie whined and gurgled at her, but she shook her head firmly.

“Nope, not happening kiddo. I like my nails unchewed.”

“She doesn’t even have teeth yet Alex.”

“Don’t care. She’d figure it out somehow. Babies are evil like that.” She grinned and ruffled Evie’s hair. “So, where’s this body I’m dumping?”

“Bedroom. Can’t miss it,” he said darkly, gesturing to the door at the end of the hall.

Alex nodded, strode over to the door and pushed it open.

He hadn’t been kidding about not missing the body. 

Pinned to the wall by the throat with a nano-blade over the crib, was a woman with dark red hair with a portion of it shaved out near the back. She was clearly augmented with sleek white and black arms and the markings of an implant in her scalp, and she was dressed in a heavy black coat. Blood was splattered down her front, as well as over the crib and wall. Poor Evie had probably gotten a faceful of the stuff.

What really made Alex’s stomach turn though was the fact that she was  _ sure _ she’d seen this woman somewhere before. She couldn’t think of where, but she was certain of it. 

She was definitely an Illuminati agent sent to retrieve Evie, but for Alex to have seen her before, even briefly, what were the chances she’d been watching them the whole time? Always in place, ready to act if the order ever came through that they needed to be dealt with-.

Alex gave herself a shake. The agent had failed and was dead now. That was all that mattered. Right now she had to focus on the grim task of figuring out what exactly she was supposed to do with her.

Her first thought was to leave her in the street for the police to find. What was one more dead aug, after all? They’d load her into a truck and not even question why someone would have killed her. It would make Alex’s life a bit easier.

But then there was a matter of complications. No cop had killed her, and neither had any natural. If the wrong kind of cop - aka the kind that actually did their job right - found the body, there could be an investigation and Adam was one of the few augs in Prague with a license to be fitted with military grade augmentations. That would just mean more trouble for him.

She briefly entertained taking the body to a local mechanic first - perhaps the one she’d introduced Adam to, Koller - but immediately pushed that thought to one side. Even if Koller made sure that the augs went to someone who was in dire need of them and wouldn’t charge a single penny for them, the idea ventured too close to harvesting for her liking. 

It was aggravating, standing there trying to come up with a solution that wouldn’t bite them in the ass and wouldn’t give her trouble sleeping at night. She was a pilot, disposing of a body wasn’t something she’d trained for in her life damnit.

Then her mind wandered back to the police. They had vans loaded up with bodies. Who could say that the wound hadn’t been caused in transit?

Probably a coroner, but it was about as good as any other plan she’d come up with, and whilst there were other complicating factors - she hardly had a strength aug packed away after all - it would do.

So she got to work, first of all by removing the blade that had the agent pinned to the wall in the first place, a task that took several minutes in and of itself. It was embedded a good few inches into the brick work and her fingers kept sliding over the sleek black blade as she worked it out. The blood spilling from the wound certainly didn’t help.

“You just had to call me while the body was still fresh, didn’t you?” she growled as she tugged and fumbled before finally prying the damn thing loose. The body slumped to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut.

Alex tossed the blade to one side before grabbing a packet of tissues out of her handbag. She stuffed the wound, trying her best to stem the bloodflow before taking it anywhere. The last thing anyone needed was the trail leading the police straight back to Adam. 

Once it seemed that the worst of the bleeding was over, Alex grabbed an arm and tugged the body up onto her shoulder, bending her knees to secure an arm over the back of the agent’s legs before hoisting it up so that she was standing again.

“Cover her eyes, I’m bringing it out,” Alex called as she edged back into the main room of the apartment.

Adam was still sat on the couch with Evie sitting in his lap, and he drew her into his chest, keeping her firmly facing the window so she couldn’t catch sight of Alex with the body slung over her shoulder.

“You should clean that mess up before it dries,” she advised as she headed for the door, reaching for the handle.

“Is that advice or an order, Miss Vega?” he teased dryly. Deflecting, as he was prone to do.

“Yeah it is. And if it’s not done by the time I get back then you’re in big trouble.”

She nudged the door open with her foot and caught a glimpse of another ghostly smile on Adam’s face as she left, body in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rip Madame Photographe but you were the most convenient canon character for the job ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	10. First Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam's stressed, and Evie has something on her mind.

Adam gave his inbox a single glance and immediately closed it, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing heavily.

It was only a matter of time before word got around the office. He’d accepted that some time ago considering that Miller would need to offer _some_ explanation of his absence to the rest of the team, but that was before the Illuminati had made their first attempt at taking Evie back. Now he had an influx of requests that bordered on demands from his colleagues that he bring her into the office; the same office where Illuminati moles were working.

It didn’t help that he’d been sleeping almost as poorly as Evie had been.

Every little noise seemed to jerk him from his sleep now, whether it was the distant yowling of an alley cat or the creaking of his neighbour’s window. He kept seeing shadowy figures lingering out of the corner of his eye, as if waiting for him to let his guard down, and he found himself double checking the locks and security systems more times than since he had first moved in.

Needless to say the last few days had been utterly _miserable_. The only upside being that Alex had done away with the body cleanly enough that Eliza Cassan hadn’t made even the smallest mention of a murder in Prague.

Little victories. Now if all of TF29 would stop asking him to bring Evie into the office, perhaps he could actually take the chance to relax.

He jolted as Scorch the dragon hit him in the shoulder with a soft _thunk_ , and he whirled around to see Evie giggling in delight on the playmat.

“We’ve talked about this, sweetie,” Adam said dryly, grabbing the toy off of the floor. “We agreed, no throwing things at daddy until you’re big enough for baseball. _Then_ we’ll work on your pitch.”

She babbled some more, tripping on sounds that didn’t really seem to mean anything, and then flipped herself over onto her front.

“Uh on, Evie’s on the move,” he chuckled, dropping the toy on the sofa. “Does this mean I don’t get to take a nap on the couch?”

She crawled forwards and then sat herself down right on top of his feet, smiling up at him. She patted his leg, and Adam leaned down to scoop her up. She put her hands on the sides of his face as he straightened up and placed a kiss on his lips.

“Dada,” she giggled, patting his face in her affectionate little way.

Adam froze for a second, blinking as he tried to process that.

“What did you just say?” he spluttered, feeling as if she’d caught him off guard for the thousandth time.

“Dada!” she repeated jovially. “Dada, dada, dada, dada!”

She clapped her hands together, beaming as she repeated herself over and over again, and Adam felt a lump forming in his throat as he carried her over to sit on the couch. He’d be damned if he let himself cry over this, but even he had to admit that she was putting him at a dangerous risk of doing so right now.

To tell the truth, kids hadn’t been something he’d even entertained the thought of since he and Megan had split up and even less so since the turn his life had taken back in 2027. When he made the decision to keep Evie with him rather than give her up, he thought he knew what that would mean, what exactly he would be taking on and that he was prepared for it. And in the weeks since then, thinking of himself as Evie’s father became easier and more natural.

Yet here he was, feeling very much as though she had pulled the rug out from under him with just one word. A word that she probably didn’t _really_ understand as a word and was, rather, just some noises that happened to sound like one, and she didn’t really understand the application of it just yet.

That, and she was probably pleased to see she had surprised him again. She seemed to enjoy seeing him off guard.

“Dada?”

He was pulled from his thoughts again as Evie sat in his lap, watching him carefully. So he pulled himself back together. If seeing him surprised pleased her, then no way she was going to catch him tearing up. Otherwise she’d _never_ stop trying to figure out how to make that happen.

“Yes Evie?”

She grinned.

“Dada!”

“Yeah, you can say ‘dada’ now. Do I need to start worrying about you copying the bad words, or have I still got time?”

“Dada!”

“Does that mean yes or no?”

“Dada, dada, dada!”

He sighed and shook his head, smiling as he pressed a kiss to her cheek, which caused her to squeal and clap her hands together. He got the feeling that it was all he was going to be hearing from now on.

It was infinitely preferable to his overflowing inbox, that was for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per request from Andauril ^^  
> honestly this might be the cutest thing I've written yet...  
> also fun fact: turns out the beanie baby dragon I was thinking of _wasn't_ Scorch, but a UK exclusive called Y Ddraig Goch which I had growing up. I chose to go with the Scorch version tho because I can't think of where Adam would have gotten Ddraig from XD


	11. Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam brings Evie into the office for a visit. MacReady is less than thrilled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really sorry for the delay on this drabble, I've been busy with dog training, my nan's funeral, and a few birthdays these last couple of weeks, plus depression and trying to actually work on my other wips means that I've not been able to do as much work on this collection as I would have liked. Throw in not knowing how to write this drabble in a way that I was satisfied with, and yeah, the delay was kind of inevitable.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your support, and I hope you enjoy some more Dadam Jensen and MacReady being bullied by a baby XD

“Jensen, I swear to god-!”

Adam smirked, adjusting his hold on Evie as she giggled and leaned into his side with her thumb in her mouth. MacReady was far less amused, however, as he grabbed the dragon toy off of the floor and threw it at his head. Adam tilted his head out of its path and the toy hit the wall behind him, then dropped to the floor with a gentle  _ thud _ .

“You’re supposed to let her hit you, Macready. That’s how the game works.”

MacReady scowled.

“It’s a bloody baby, Jensen. It’s supposed to still be sucking on their own toes, not aiming for _my_ _head_.”

Aria giggled and scooped the toy up off of the floor and held it out to Evie. She took it with a babble that was the closest to ‘thank you’ that she’d be getting to for a while, then, without any hesitation, promptly threw it at MacReady. This time he caught it and, instead of throwing it back, he dropped it on the desk and folded his arms over his chest.

Evie whimpered, twisting around to reach for it.

“Come on MacReady, that’s just mean,” Aria said disapprovingly. 

“So is throwing it at me.”

“She’s eight months old and is trying to play. You’re forty three and being spiteful. There’s a difference.” Aria returned the toy to Evie, beaming with delight at her. “Here you go. Now this time, when you aim, make sure you keep your arm steady and that your follow through is-”

“Hey, don’t encourage her!”

Aria stuck her tongue out at him and Adam just snorted as a grin curled at the corner of his mouth.

It had been nearly a month since the attempted kidnapping, and the bombardment of requests from his colleagues hadn’t ceased, and would no longer be dissuaded by a simple no. So despite his concerns about the Illuminati element within the office, Adam finally agreed to bring Evie in for a visit. Purely for the purpose of socialising her, of course.

It wasn’t it could make things worse somehow, and if it did, he would handle it. If the Illuminati wanted Evie that badly, they would need to kill him first, and he didn’t plan to go down without a fight. 

But it was difficult to focus on those dark thoughts when he got to be entertained by the spectacle of Duncan MacReady being incapable of dealing with an eight month old baby. In the time they’d been there, he’d not only had toys thrown at him, but had also been kicked in the jaw, vomited on, and had been holding her when she made use of her diaper.

“Good thing you don’t need to write up a report on this, eh MacReady?” Adam teased smugly. “I don’t think there’s anyway of making this look good to the bosses.”

He could only smirk in response to the ever deepening scowl he received in return for that, and Evie giggled before tugging at his coat. He pressed a kiss to her temple and she squealed in delight, leaning up to give him a kiss in return.

“Aw, she’s so sweet,” Aria cooed.

“She’s doing much better than I expected, to be honest,” he admitted, tucking her hair behind her ear. “She’s not had a lot of exposure to new people. I expected a lot more crying.”

“You say that like she didn’t spend the first half hour howling whenever anyone else so much as laid a finger on her,” MacReady snorted.

“Well to be fair she’s not seen anyone nearly as ugly as you MacReady. She probably thought you were a monster or something.”

Aria bit down a laugh but the twinkle in her eyes was unmistakably one of amusement.

“Funny you should mention that,” she interjected before MacReady could shoot back, “on our last mission, I  _ swear _ I heard one of the terrorists yell ‘they’ve got a cave troll!’ when we stormed in.”

“Don’t make me rescind my recommendation for you to be on the team, Argento.”

She ignored him.

“So any ideas when you’ll be back for work?” she asked, perching herself on the edge of the desk as Evie began started chewing on the dragon’s snout, her eyes fixed on MacReady who glowered back at her.

“It’ll be another couple of weeks still,” Adam said. “Evie needs a few more shots before she can start daycare, and even then it won’t be immediate. She needs to be eased into things so she doesn’t blow up if I’m gone for more than half a second.”

“So the extended vacation continues? Figures,” MacReady sighed, rolling his eyes.

“So she’s all signed up then?” Aria asked, ignored the jab.

“Yeah, the Little Mole International Preschool.”

“Oh, I think Agent Khanna’s daughter, Rowan, goes there. If I remember right, she’s about Evie’s age,” Aria continued. “Maybe you could arrange a playdate so Evie’s got a friend when she starts.”

“I’ll think about it,” was his non-committal reply.

He couldn’t say he knew Agent Khanna particularly well, only that he worked in the Organised Crime division. He certainly hadn’t known he had any children, let alone one Evie’s age. And he couldn’t say whether or not that Khanna would be partial to letting his young daughter be around an aug packed to the brim with military grade weaponry.

The doubt must have shown on his face because it didn’t escape Aria’s notice, and she simply smiled.

“Good. I’m sure he would love for Rowan to have a friend to play with. They’d have great fun playing with MacReady.” 

She shot him a fleeting smirk, and MacReady must have decided he’d had his fill for the day as he shook his head and stalked back into his office. Even though it was an automatic door and he didn’t even lay a hand to it, there was definitely something very moody about how it clicked shut behind him.

Adam just rolled his eyes. Could he really say he was surprised? Maybe a little, considering he had outlasted Chang, Smiley, and even Delara.

Chang had been too nervous to even hold Evie in the first place, Smiley had made her bawl for nearly half an hour after scaring her with a funny face, and she’d barely been halfway into Delara’s arms before she started screaming and hitting, and only refused to stop the latter until she was handed back to Adam. He ended up retreating to his corner of the office in order to give her some time to calm down and settle, and even then she seemed far more wary than she had been before.

The timing of her meltdown nagged at him. Maybe she’d just gotten fed up of being passed around by strangers, or maybe Delara specifically had set it off. It was hard to say, especially when one considered it was her first major exposure to such a large number of people, but he couldn’t help but wonder if there was something to it. He’d had his suspicions about Delara since she first arrived. After a while he wondered if he’d simply been paranoid. Then came their interview about his mission in the Penthouse and Guerrero and his suspicions rose again.

But the fact Evie started crying when being handed to Delara - someone she’d never met before - wasn’t exactly evidence of anything. She’d been doing that all morning until she realised Adam wasn’t going anywhere and finally began to warm up to some of his colleagues.

It was something he decided that he would mull over later when he put Evie to bed and he had some time to think. At the very least is justified him keeping his guard up around TF29’s psychologist.

“Dada?”

He looked down at Evie who was clutching at his coat again.

“Yeah?”

“Dada.”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

He spied Aria in the corner of his eye, and could see her grinning from ear to ear. But then Evie tugged on his beard, like she knew his attention wasn’t one hundred percent on her.

“Ow, okay, okay. Yes, what is it?”

Evie just giggled and continued to babble at him as he rolled his eyes, fully aware that Aria was trying to pass off a laugh as a cough. Thinking was definitely going to have to wait.


End file.
